Bill S1221-2013

Requires school buses that contract with the N.Y. city department of education to retrofit certain buses with certain equipment

Requires school buses that contract with the NYC department of education to retrofit certain buses with certain equipment; requires that all buses used to provide transportation services to students pursuant to a service contract with the NYC department of education use ultra-low sulfur fuel or "clean diesel"; eliminates the cap on air pollution fees.

Actions

Jan 8, 2014: REFERRED TO CITIES

Jan 9, 2013: REFERRED TO CITIES

Memo

BILL NUMBER:S1221

TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to contracts with school bus companies; and to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to eliminating the cap on air pollution fees

PURPOSE: To require that buses transporting New York City's public school children be retrofitted with either diesel particulate filters or diesel oxidation catalysts, whichever is appropriate. This bill also eliminates the per-ton fee cap for facilities emitting regulated air contaminants.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill would re-letter subdivision g of section 19-606 of the administrative code of New York City as subdivision h and add a new subdivision g that would require any school bus company providing services to students under contract with the City Department of Education to install diesel oxidation catalysts or diesel particulate filters and to use ultra-low sulfur fuel. Installation of the diesel emissions devices would be required within two years of the bill's effective date, or upon entering into or renewing a contract with the department, whichever is later.

Section 2 of the bill would amend subdivision 1 of Section 72-0303 of the environmental conservation law to eliminate the per-ton fee cap for facilities emitting regulated air contaminants.

Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:

The harmful health effects of diesel exhaust have been studied and documented for decades, and an increasing number of health authorities have recognized diesel exhaust as a potential carcinogen. Diesel exhaust is also known as a major source of fine particles, which can exacerbate asthma, a condition most prevalent among children and of epidemic proportions in many neighborhoods of New York City. In addition, diesel engines emit smog-forming oxides of nitrogen in mass quantities, which have been linked to decreased lung function growth in children. According to a 2004 study by the American Lung Association in metropolitan Chicago, schoolchildren on a conventional diesel school bus are exposed to up to five times as much diesel emission as they would encounter on a retrofitted bus that uses ultra-low-sulfur fuel.

New York City's more than 5,000 school buses, which are owned by over 50 bus companies that have contracted with the City Department of Education, run on diesel fuel. Over 300,000 New York City school children ride these buses every school day. In 2001, the New York Power Authority initiated a $6 million program to install pollution control systems in city school buses, and has since retrofitted over 1,500 to 2,000 school buses. The voluntary program pays to install diesel particulate filters on newer buses and diesel oxidation catalysts on older buses, reducing diesel bus emissions by more than

90%. This legislation would make it mandatory for buses transporting New York City's school children to have either retrofitted diesel particulate filters or diesel oxidation catalysts.

This legislation would also eliminate the per-ton cap on air pollution fees, generating several million dollars per year in additional air pollution fees collected. The fee on sources of regulated air contaminants was established to finance the direct and indirect costs associated with the Department of Environmental Conservation's operating permit program.

IMPACT ON THE STATE: Eliminating the per-ton cap on air pollution fees would generate. additional revenue for the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This bill shall take effect immediately.

Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1221
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2013
___________

Introduced by Sens. PERKINS, BRESLIN, DIAZ, DILAN, HASSELL-THOMPSON,
KRUEGER, MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when print-
ed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to contracts with school bus companies; and to amend the
environmental conservation law, in relation to eliminating the cap on
air pollution fees
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision g of section 19-606 of the administrative code
of the city of New York is relettered subdivision h and a new subdivi-
sion g is added to read as follows:
G. 1. ANY BUS USED TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO STUDENTS IN CONNECTION WITH
A SERVICE CONTRACT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL:
(I) IF BUILT PRIOR TO NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE, BE RETROFITTED
WITH DIESEL OXIDATION CATALYSTS;
(II) IF BUILT ON OR AFTER JANUARY FIRST, NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE,
BE RETROFITTED WITH DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTERS; AND
(III) USE ULTRA-LOW SULFUR FUEL OR "CLEAN DIESEL" CONTAINING NOT MORE
THAN 15 PPM OF SULFUR.
2. ANY ALTERATION REQUIRED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE
COMPLETED (I) WITHIN TWO YEARS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION
OR (II) UPON ENTERING INTO OR RENEWING A CONTRACT WITH THE NEW YORK CITY
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WHICHEVER IS LATER.
S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 72-0303 of the environmental conserva-
tion law, as amended by section 1 of part D of chapter 413 of the laws
of 1999, the opening paragraph as amended by section 1 of part BBB of
chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows:
1. Commencing January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four and every
year thereafter all sources of regulated air contaminants identified

EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02316-01-3

S. 1221 2

pursuant to subdivision one of section 19-0311 of this chapter shall
submit to the department an annual fee of forty-five dollars per ton [up
to seven thousand tons] annually of each regulated air contaminant as
follows: forty-five dollars per ton for facilities with total emissions
less than one thousand tons annually; fifty dollars per ton for facili-
ties with total emissions of one thousand or more but less than two
thousand tons annually; fifty-five dollars per ton for facilities with
total emissions of two thousand or more but less than five thousand tons
annually; and sixty-five dollars per ton for facilities with total emis-
sions of five thousand or more tons annually. Such fee shall be suffi-
cient to support an appropriation approved by the legislature for the
direct and indirect costs associated with the operating permit program
established in section 19-0311 of this chapter. Such fee shall be estab-
lished by the department and shall be calculated by dividing the amount
of the current year appropriation from the operating permit program
account of the clean air fund by the total tons of emissions of regu-
lated air contaminants that are subject to the operating permit program
fees from sources subject to the operating permit program pursuant to
section 19-0311 of this chapter [up to seven thousand tons] annually of
each regulated air contaminant from each source; provided that, in
making such calculation, the department shall adjust their calculation
to account for any deficit or surplus in the operating permit program
account of the clean air fund established pursuant to section ninety-
seven-oo of the state finance law; any loan repayment from the mobile
source account of the clean air fund established pursuant to section
ninety-seven-oo of the state finance law; and the rate of collection by
the department of the bills issued for the fee for the prior year.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the state administrative procedure
act, such calculation and fee shall be established as a rule by publica-
tion in the Environmental Notice Bulletin no later than thirty days
after the budget bills making appropriations for the support of govern-
ment are enacted or July first, whichever is later, of the year such fee
will be effective. In no event shall the fee established herein be any
greater than the maximum fee identified pursuant to this section.
S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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